A Dimensional Model of Psychopathology Among Homeless Adolescents: Suicidality, Internalizing, and Externalizing Disorders

Authors

Kevin A. Yoder, University of North TexasFollow
Susan L. Longley, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
Les B. Whitbeck, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Dan R. Hoyt, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 2008

Comments

Published in Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Volume 36, Number 1 (January, 2008), pp. 95-104. This article (with a US government author) is not subject to copyright.

Abstract

The present study examined associations among dimensions of suicidality and psychopathology in a sample of 428 homeless adolescents (56.3% female). Confirmatory factor analysis results provided support for a three-factor model in which suicidality (measured with lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide attempts), internalizing disorders (assessed with lifetime diagnoses of major depressive episode and post-traumatic stress disorder), and externalizing disorders (indicated by lifetime diagnoses of conduct disorder, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse) were positively intercorrelated. The findings illustrate the utility of a dimensional approach that integrates suicidality and psychopathology into one model.